Shortening spruce extensions and reduction pine needles

[minkes]

Hi bonsai friends!

I have question about, what is the best time to shorten elongated spruce branches and when to reduce number of pine needles. Look at the photos. I think I should pinch my spruce in the spring, but I didn't. So now I need to reduce lenght of the new growth. Should I do it now (it is autumn here) or wait till spring? Same question about this pine. I think there are too many needles and I should reduce them. What are your suggestions?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

For the spruce, I do it year round (european/norway spruce). But I wait until I see buds (green or brown, more developed) to form on those elongated branches. This way I have a safe spot to cut back to. I've noticed that if I do it earlier in a season (last month of summer), I get more backbudding.

Pine needle plucking can be done anytime after they have hardened off + 3 weeks. But I prefer cutting them back to 3mm stubs in late summer or fall. Clipping them to stubs, leaves the needle base where a new bud can be hiding. In a month and a half, the stubs turn brown and they can be rubbed off easily without damaging the base where a bud might be forming. The lack of injury on that base weighs more heavily in my advantage than the temporary ugly look.

 

[Shibui]

Beware of taking off all lowest needles. The pine already has long, bare branches. Removing lowest needles only makes that worse.
I'd be trying to get back budding on the branches. That means cutting tips back. In effect you are reducing needles but down from the ends rather than from the base up and leaving only needles at the tips.

The tree looks like Mugho or Scots? With pines, species is important. Double and single flush species are treated a bit different.

 

[minkes]

Thanks for responses.

@Shibui it is Scots pine. Make sense, I really need to push growth back, so do you recommend to trim tips now in hope for back budding or leave it now and do it next year in summer?

@Wires_Guy_wires With spruce I was thinking I could be a bit late and there will be not enough time for new buds forming, so this time it could be better to wait till early spring not to compromise healt of the tree trough winter or it is OK to shorten them now? I wanted to gain health and it was accomplished, but now there are too long shoots.

 

[TomB]

Now is OK to cut back a spruce, but only as far as existing buds. I would leave at least two or three on each branch. Thin them out where they occur in clusters, choosing the ones that will be useful for developing your branch structure. In the spring, when these extend, you can pinch the shoots.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Thanks for responses.

@Shibui it is Scots pine. Make sense, I really need to push growth back, so do you recommend to trim tips now in hope for back budding or leave it now and do it next year in summer?

@Wires_Guy_wires With spruce I was thinking I could be a bit late and there will be not enough time for new buds forming, so this time it could be better to wait till early spring not to compromise healt of the tree trough winter or it is OK to shorten them now? I wanted to gain health and it was accomplished, but now there are too long shoots.

There are already buds to cut back to. So it would work just fine, but backbudding would be less proficient compared to cutting it back earlier.

 

[Shibui]

it is Scots pine. Make sense, I really need to push growth back, so do you recommend to trim tips now in hope for back budding or leave it now and do it next year in summer?

I would cut back Scots pine either now or late Winter. That should give the tree time for new buds to form and open in Spring so you'll get a quicker response and can then start regular pruning to build ramification.
Cutting single flush pines back next summer will form new buds soon after the prune, but those buds will not open until the following Spring so quite some time to get the new flush of growth needed to shorten and ramify those branches.
Also, waiting until next Summer, the oldest needles will die and fall as the natural cycle. That will bring the existing foliage further out on each branch meaning your cuts will eb that much further out.
When pruning overgrown pines I do more than just cut tips. Cut all branches back as far as possible. Just leave 4-6 needle pairs on each growing branch. If there are side branches on some branches consider cutting the main branch back to the junction if that makes the whole thing more compact. Use every technique to make all branches as short as possible at this first prune. Then follow with single flush maintenance pruning to build ramification in the following years.